A Glimpse of RISA’s life . . .

As a child, growing up on the Jersey shore meant summer-long seasons stuffed with seafood. It is back home in Jersey where Risa first tried, and fell in love with steamers, an East Coast specialty. While she was introduced to all the locally-caught cuisine the shore had to offer, Risa was also lucky enough to have Manhattan and its eclectic tastes merely a short drive away. She recalls her family venturing into the bustling streets of New York City for Dim Sum in Chinatown, or freshly scooped gourmet gelato on the streets of Little Italy during The San Gennaro Festival. Between the decadent dining that NYC had to offer, and the clam huts of Long Beach Island, Risa is grateful for these two cities as they marked the beginning of her Epicurean journey. 

After graduating from University of Miami, with degrees in both Communications and Psychology, Risa landed a position at Alan Taylor Communications; a Sports Public Relations agency based in NYC. Within three years, and multiple promotions she earned the title of Senior Account Executive, overseeing a variety of sports driven consumer PR. 

Although she loved Sports PR, Risa had an incredible level of creativity which she knew would be better harvested in a position which allowed for her to employ those artistic talents.  She joined Festival Marketing’s event division, where she was responsible for creating and marketing BIO events (By Invitation Only) to American Express platinum card holders, granting her access to oversee the most prestigious Service Establishment Awards Weekend of American Express.   

After a few years at Festival Marketing, Risa was offered the opportunity to join Integrated Sports International (ISI), as Director of New Business Development. In this position, Risa led a team in creating lucrative and rewarding opportunities for athletes that ISI represented, via appearances, signature events, licensing deals, and cross industry promotions. In year two, Risa was promoted to Vice President. After one year as VP, Risa decided to expand her skillset outside the sports niche, and act as an independent consultant, ultimately leading her to launch New Leaf Events and Marketing (NLEM). 

New Leaf Events and Marketing was positioned as a one stop PR/Marketing/Event company; handling creative direction, event production, strategic PR and Marketing platforms, and talent liaison. Clients included American Express, Dick Clark Communications, Food and Wine Magazine, Coca Cola, Starbucks, Maui Film Festival,  Bermuda Tourism, NYC Tourism Board. Within two years the client roster had grown tremendously, so much so that in addition to its NYC office, a West Coast (Los Angeles) office was opened. 

Then in 2000, The Salt Lake Olympic Committee asked Risa to join its Sports Production Team as a producer of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games.  It would be a challenging two year commitment. For the first time ever, the IOC decided to broadcast (live) Bronze, Silver and Gold medalists immediately following each of the 65 final competitions. With a staff of 90, Risa led her team to flawlessly execute 65 “Field of Play” live TV ceremonies, (this new production became written into the Olympic production bylaws for all future games).

Risa continued to work for the Olympics in 2010, this time as “Celebrity Interviewer.” She interviewed over 100 A-list celebrities, musicians, and athletes about their past Olympic memories. These interviews were played in the Olympic venues before and after competitions. **As a producer of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, Risa also appeared on The Today Show with Katie Couric and Matt Lauer as an Olympic Correspondent.  

After the 2010 Olympics, and 10 years of leading New Leaf Events as acting President, Risa decided to take a sabbatical. She became a “permanently temporary” resident of Aspen, Colorado. Always having a passion for adventure and dining, Risa wrote a spec article on the Apres Ski scene in Aspen. After submitting the article to a few magazines, she wound up with a front page feature. That one article led to a series of travel and food articles, and soon Risa became a much sought after travel and food writer, and was named the “Epicurean Explorer” by her peers. Fast forward to a few years later, Risa was offered a guest spot on a TV show interviewing Michelin Chef Daniel Boulud as well as a guest spot on a radio show on dining. By the end of the show, the network owner offered Risa her own travel and dining show - which she named Epicurean Exploring. 

Today, eight years later, Risa is still hosting the award-winning show Epicurean Exploring on Healthy Life, and is Editor-in-Chief for the luxury travel magazine “Journey Beyond Aspen.” 

Risa’s passion for adventure and continued exploration of her well-developed palate has led her to many exciting places, introducing her to new cuisines and flavors. But through her many travels, Risa still navigates her way back to her roots set down the shore, ordering buckets of steamers, and reminiscing where this great Epicurean journey began.